


You're the one I want to go through time with

by savvyliterate



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-12-26
Updated: 2015-12-27
Packaged: 2018-05-09 11:34:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,684
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5538341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/savvyliterate/pseuds/savvyliterate
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tumblr prompts and ficlets set during the 24 (or more) years that the Doctor gives River on Darillium.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I shall always take the most careful documentation

“Stephen Fry.”

River rolled onto her stomach, the sheet dipping just below the small of her back as she pillowed her head on her arm to study her husband. The Doctor was sat up next to her, flipping through the diary he had never handed back. She really should be cross at some point, but there literally was no more spoilers between them. For the first, and she deeply suspected only time, they were on the exact same page.

“Stephen Fry,” he repeated with a huff. “He’s _gay_.” 

“I _married_ him. I never said I had _sex_ with him. God, Doctor.” River leaned over and took the book carefully out of his hands. Before he could complain, she found the page she wanted and handed it back to him. “I did it on a bet with Hugh Laurie. There was loads of alcohol involved. Sweetie, Stephen’s not interested in women, and I respect that. You should know that by now.”

Still, he grumbled as he read the entry. Then he flipped the page, and his brow furrowed. “You did _that_ with my Eighth self? Why don’t I remember it?”

“Because you were ever so prone to amnesia in that body.” River pushed herself up just enough to reveal her cleavage. “Bring back any memories?”

“Sadly, no.” The Doctor read a couple of more pages. “Surprised you didn’t marry Henry VIII.”

“That was my mother, sweetie, not me.”

He chuckled, then frowned at a passage. “Jane Austen? Someone else I recall … I think I traveled with her … she had a fling with Jane Austen.”

River inspected her nails. “Mmm … yes, I know. We had a lovely threesome one time when you happened to misplace the time period and left her stranded for a week.”

The Doctor winged an eyebrow. “Do I really want to know?” 

“No, you really don’t.” She made a low hum of pleasure though under her breath. “Though, she did the most _marvelous_ things with her tongue.”

“Jane or the someone else?” 

“Yes.” River rolled onto her back, the sheet twisting around her waist as she moved. “How was Elizabeth in that aspect?” 

“Never got the chance,” he replied. “Zygons got in the way.”

“And Marilyn?”

“Ah. Joe DiMaggio found us out.”

“Mata Hari.”

“Couldn’t hold a candle to you, dear.”

“And Cleopatra?”

Now the Doctor stopped, giving River a rather wicked grin that made her toes curl. “Now, _there’s_ a woman who could do marvelous things with her tongue.”

“Mmm … I agree.” Her hand cupped her breast in remembrance, and she enjoyed how his eyes turned a darker shade of blue as he licked his lips slightly.

“I taught her a thing or two in return,” he murmured.

“Oh, really?”

He set her diary aside and tugged at the sheet. “Why don’t I show you? You can take copious notes.”

River helped him peel the sheet away so he could shift between her thighs. “I look forward to the lessons.”


	2. We're breaking down like fractions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor decides it's time to go see River at the Library. Title take from Hamilton: The Musical

At the end of everything, at the end of the more than 8,700 linear days spent together as husband and wife (though to be fair it got extended quite a bit considering they were two Time Lords with a TARDIS), the Doctor went to the Library.

He chose his date carefully, to ensure that he would have plenty of time. It was the summer equinox, the time with the most daylight. As extra insurance, he swapped out the light bulb on top of the TARDIS to one from Alftraxis III that captured a single ray of pure sunlight. He aimed it at the main computer terminal, where a familiar sonic screwdriver stuck out from a port. The blue light at the end blinked steadily, but it wasn’t as strong as the day he first gave it to her, waving it over her as she laughed to set the initial relay. He wondered if she figured it out at some point. Most likely did. She was so clever, his wife.

The Doctor sat at the keyboard, dragged in his breath, and started to boot up the computer. Instead, he squeezed his eyes shut, his self control shredding away. His fingers hovered over the keys, then he bowed his head, shoulders shaking as he lost the battle against tears that he’d been waging for most of the final years of his linear years with River.

“Oh, for heaven’s sake. You dragged me all the way to this godforsaken place just so you could turn into a watering pot?”

“I could do without your commentary,” he managed.

From the doorway of the TARDIS, Missy rolled her eyes. “Then why did you even bother showing up on my doorstep to begin with blubbering about you need someone to come with you to the Library? She’s just another one of your little human companions.”

“She was never a _companion_ ,” the Doctor bit out, annoyance at his oldest friend doing wonders to put a halt on the waterworks. He fished out a handkerchief and did his best to pull himself together. It wouldn’t do to see the wife like this.

“24 years with a single person, gods how _boring_ was that? At least tell me those were _human_ years, not _Gallifreyan_ years.”

“Enough with you!” The Doctor shoved out of his chair and strode back to the TARDIS, steering Missy inside and yanking the door shut after her, though she got in one swift kick during their struggle. For good measure, he sonicked the lock and stalked back to the terminal. He spent the entire boot-up process muttering under his breath about what a stupid idea it was to bring his oldest friend to begin with. He thought he was well and done with sentimentality. 

But when he realized he’d accessed River’s files without indulging in any sort of self pity whatsoever, he thought that maybe he was just fucking brilliant to use Missy as an emotional decoy.

Or not.

After all, he had told River himself that everything had to end. He’d found a loophole, wiggle room to finally give themselves the proper marriage that they’d never been on the same page enough to appreciate. He had years with River. It should be enough. It was never enough. He rubbed his chest, where it felt like a shard of ice was lodged between his hearts. Ignoring the muffled pounding from the TARDIS, he input the last command and the hologram machine sputtered to light. 

He swiveled in the chair so he could face it, watching as light mote slowly gathered then began to whirl faster. And there she was, dressed in the beaded crimson gown and feathered capelet she wore during their first night on Darillium. It was far better than the white corn husk monstrosity she’d worn when he’d previously seen her as a data ghost. Virginal white didn’t suit his bad girl at all.

He grinned at her, hearts tripping over each other like they had the day he’d flung open his door to catch her in mid-space for the first time so long ago. “Hello, dear.”

She approached him, smile as warm as the final time he’d seen her. “Hello, my love.” 

His brow furrowed. “What, no sweetie?”

“I love a good cliché, but I do like to change it up every once in awhile.” She winked, and he laughed. “When are we for you?”

“You had just decided to take an invitation to go on an expedition to a closed off planet,” he informed her. “I told you to make sure to give me a call, that I’d be done tinkering under the console by the time you were ready for me to pop around.”

“You cheated,” she murmured.

“I didn’t _cheat_. I just stopped counting the days together at some point. We got to see the sunrise, didn’t we?” He let his hands rise and fall, then restless, got to his feet and began to pace. “Fuck. It wasn’t supposed to happen this way.”

“From every indication I’ve had in the time I’ve spent in this database, things happened the way they did for a reason.”

“No, I just …” The Doctor reached the console and gave it a swift kick. “I was prepared this time, you know. Properly prepared. I gave you that grand speech about our time ending for a reason. Because you’re right, I fucking can’t stand endings. I thought I’d learned my lesson. I’d say good-bye to you here and we’d both have some peace. But look at you.” He waved a hand at her non-corporeal form. “You can’t even move from that spot. You’re not threatening to disembowel me or any other of the wicked things that turn me on. You’re just a shell of yourself.”

“You keep talking that way about me, and I know of at least 50 different viruses that would render you unable to move for the next millennia,” River shot back. She leaned against the console, or appeared to do so from his point of view. “Sweetie, I knew from the very start what I was likely going into. That time we spent together on Darillium helped me come to peace with it.”

“I know.” And she’d done so far better than he ever would. The Doctor reached into his coat and pulled out a thin stick, holding up in front of River. “I’ve a gift for you, if you want it.”

“You’ve been rather spoiling me,” she said with a smile.

“Was making up for lost time. This one’s a good one.” He tapped the stick. “Data imprints of your parents, taken from the TARDIS memory banks from just before Manhattan.”

River’s jaw sagged. “Are you _serious?_ ”

“Yes! I know your team’s in there with you, but I didn’t want you to be alone and-”

“ _No!”_ Her denial echoed through the chamber, bouncing off walls and ringing his ears. “Doctor, I don’t want this!”

He gaped at her. “You don’t _want_ it?”

“No! Delete what’s on that stick _right this second_.”

“River, they’re _your parents_.”

“They’re an imprint taken from TARDIS data files that are a facsimile of my parents! It’s not even the data relay that you did of me. It’s a copy of a copy of a copy and I don’t want it. They wouldn’t want it either, Doctor.”

“I’m also in there!” he shouted over her, and River recoiled in horror. “You’re _what_?” she demanded.

The Doctor stalked back to her. “Me, River. Proper me.” He tapped the side of his head. “Complete copy. I made the data relay just before coming here. You can have your family in there. You can have _me_.”

River stormed to the edge of the hologram field, nearly nose to nose with him. He swore he could almost smell her perfume and could feel the warmth coming from her skin, but he knew it was a lie. “Do you really think that I would settle for a copy of you? A consolation prize just to pacify me while you swan off into the universe? Oh yes, got the wife settled with my copy, now my conscience’s completely at ease?”

“You’re a fucking copy yourself,” he reminded her. “A chance for a new life, every book in the universe at your fingertips. You can now spend that with your family, with your husband. Why wouldn’t you want that?”

“Because _I’m not fucking Rose Tyler!”_

Her slap echoed through the room, the harsh sound of her hand against his skin ringing as he recoiled in shock. Then he took a reflexive step back as River stared in shock at her hand. Her _flesh and bone_ hand, fingers curling as he noticed for the first time that at some point during their fight that the hologram field had shut off.

“Oh my god,” River gasped, and he snatched her hand. “River, you’re …,” he breathed just as the TARDIS doors opened.

“You’re welcome. _Gods_ ,” Missy sighed. “Enough with the domestic already. Fetch your pet and lets get out of here. All these books give me the creeps.”

“You brought her back?” the Doctor asked, not quite able to let go of River’s hand.

Missy rolled her eyes. “Simple reversal of the matrix input of the neural relay that manifests itself into cellular form beneath a holographic field aided by sunlight. Weren’t you paying any sort of attention in the academy?” She tossed a wave over her shoulder. “No need to thank me! I took what I wanted as payment. Cheers!” She tapped the vortex manipulator strapped to her wrist and disappeared.

“What did she take?” River wondered. 

It took the Doctor and River two days to figure out that Missy had helped herself to one of the rare time turners created on Strawgoh, a device that River had acquired during one of the digs she and the Doctor had undergone during their time together on Darillium. Which meant they _definitely_ had to get it back before Missy actually used it, which was another adventure entirely.


	3. Heaven in space with an onion slice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Prompt: Doctor and River attempting to cook breakfast together (bonus the ingredients are super weird)

“Ah ha!” Wearing an apron personally bequeathed to him by Julia Child, the Doctor produced a muddy brown earthenware jar, curls of grey smoke swirling about the lid. He held it aloft, absolutely proud of his prize. 

“A millennium egg! Preserved in quicklime, ash from Zentraxis, clay from Poosh. It’s been preserved for 1,000 years, and now it’ll become our-”

His explanation, and it really had been such a good explanation, was rudely cut off in mid-sentence as a well-aimed laser blast shattered the jar. He held what remained of the lid as the rest of the stoneware fell into a thousand pieces on the floor of the TARDIS kitchen.

“You shot our breakfast!” The Doctor gaped to River, who stood with her back to him. She calmly dropped her palm blaster back in her apron pocket (she claimed to have seduced it from François Massialot.)

“No, I beheaded it,” River replied, whisking something in a bowl.

“You can’t behead our breakfast! Besides, it’s an egg. Eggs don’t have heads.”

“Eggs that have developed into tiny carnivorous aliens have heads.” River reached for a jar as the Doctor tossed the lid over his shoulder. “It needed beheading, or it’ll eat _us_ for breakfast.” 

“And how do you know that?” he demanded. 

“How do you think that egg got on the TARDIS to begin with? It was part of a dozen, you know.” 

He scowled, crossing his arms over his chest. “And which time did you sneak the TARDIS away from me so you could go snack on millennium eggs without me?” 

River tapped the whisk handle to her chin. “I think you were in a submarine? I do believe there was Ice Warriors, but you appeared to be handling things, so I went grocery shopping.”

The Doctor’s jaw dropped. “The Ice Warriors? I thought it was the HADS gone wrong!”

“I returned the TARDIS!”

“To the wrong bloody pole! I ought to spank you for that.”

River brushed by the Doctor carrying her bowl, making sure her hips knocked against his. “Don’t go making those threats unless you plan to follow through,” she purred and moved to the oven.

He was just cross enough with her that he snatched a towel and snapped it at her arse. She gave a little jolt, then hummed with pleasure as she opened the oven door and deposited her bowl inside. “You have a kinky side,” she said, pleased. “We’ll have to explore that after breakfast.”

“You _shot_ our breakfast.”

She gestured to the oven. “Our perfectly edible, not-likely-to-kill-us breakfast is baking for the next 11 minutes.”

The Doctor sighed. “Fine, what is it?”

“Baked ysphirite.”

He frowned at her for a second as he sorted through the translations, then snarled. “You’re baking us _space marmite_?” 

“Us? Oh, I mean you. Sorry, sweetie, I just want fruit and toast.” River swept into the fridge and pulled out a bowl of berries. “Enjoy your breakfast, my love. It won’t bite back.” She sauntered out of the room before he could corner her. “Much,” she said under her breath as the oven started to meow.


End file.
